Benjes hedge
Benjes hedges or dead wood hedges are hedges , caused by line-like, loose deposits of mainly thinner pruning, such as twigs and branches, by seed or initial approach plantings. Hermann Benjes described this approach in the late 1980s. Benjes hedges offer birds and other animals protection and food, so that they can accelerate the sowing of trees with their droppings or their food depots.
Principle and benefit
The principle of the Benjes hedge is to have hedges built up not by replanting, but by the approach of wind and seeds from the droppings of resting birds. For this purpose, wood cuttings (branches, twigs, brushwood) are mixed up, as a pile or in strips, loosely stacked as a wall or, better, simply tipped, which in turn serves to protect the growing plants. The advantages of such a system are, on the one hand, its low production costs, since it is not plants but “seeds” that are brought in naturally or autochthonously , and lumber is often available as “waste”. In addition, the loosely stored dead wood provides immediate habitat for numerous species of birds (mainly hedge breeders), small mammals and insects .
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the creation of hedges has been increasingly propagated using the Benjamin hedge as an example. In Saxony, in addition to normal hedge planting, there is also the possibility of public funding for the creation of Benjes hedges.
The Benjes hedge proves to be useful where it would quickly and inexpensively make a contribution to the network of biotopes in extensive land-cleared, intensively used agricultural landscapes such as meadows and fields . Children and young people can also be moved to topics such as nature and environmental protection by building and observing such a hedge , and Benjes himself sees it as a means of environmental education .
The main disadvantages of the benjes hedge are that the pruning of certain species is able to strike again for a long time after they have been put on the stick (such as blackberries ) and that these species are also most prevalent and spread when used. Furthermore, spontaneous vegetation is not always close to nature , but can also endanger neighboring vegetation or even biotopes through foreign organisms. The Benjes hedge is therefore not a sensible nature conservation measure in every landscape. In particular on nutrient-rich soils, it can often be observed that when pruning is deposited, woody plants do not establish themselves - or are established much too slowly - but rather competitive tall perennials, mostly nettles , butterbur or even the invasive goldenrod species, which can delay this development for a long time. Depending on the landscape come instead of the desired beer bearing briars also preferred tree species, mostly the wind spread Vorwaldarten birch and willow , often also ash or maple . Hermann Benjes himself admitted this limitation of his model in the most recent editions of his work. In the end, he therefore propagated the use of pruning primarily for protection and as a seedbed for the trees planted by human hands. In this way, the desired result can be achieved much earlier.
The Benjes hedge only brings long-term results in the protection of species , because initially no threatened species can settle by themselves. Hedges take 50 to 120 years to develop natural and valuable vegetation and repopulation takes 30 to 120 years, depending on the environment. Inexpensive Benjes hedges can still take on a valuable role in the biotope network until they are fully developed .
See also
literature
- Hermann Benjes : The networking of habitats with Benjeshecken , Munich 1997, Verlag Natur & Umwelt, 9th edition, ISBN 978-3-924749-15-6
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ [ Protective plantings in rural areas .] Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology, accessed on April 2, 2016.